Indicted school officials cost DeKalb taxpayers

By Megan Matteucci

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

DeKalb County taxpayers have paid more than $300,000 in salary to three school employees who remained on the payroll while they were targets of a criminal investigation into school construction contracts, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has learned. The three did little or no work during much of the time for which they were paid, and at least one of them was paid while in jail this week.

Former Superintendent Crawford Lewis was given $100,000 in taxpayer money for his legal defense when he was terminated in April, on top of the four months of additional pay he received for leaving.

Patricia Reid, former chief operating officer, became the district's highest-paid official when Lewis left and is still receiving pay and benefits. And Cointa Moody, Reid's assistant, who was paid $92,000 in 2009, was fired on Friday after the AJC began asking questions about her status.

The AJC's investigation found:

-- Reid has been paid $115,266 since being reassigned from chief operating officer to “special projects” on Oct. 22. A spokesman for the district said her duties include heading the district’s green initiatives and “any additional assignments deemed necessary.” School staff said Reid only comes to work about two days a week. Reid's annual salary is more than $197,000 a year.

-- Reid will be paid about $20,000 more from now until her last day on June 30.

-- Moody made about $53,000 since October, when she was told to continue serving as Reid’s assistant. She had no other duties, school staff said. Moody was indicted on theft charges for taking $42,000 in overtime from July 2008 to June 2009, when she was running personal errands for Reid.

-- Lewis took administrative leave in February after investigators raided his home and school offices. He collected $42,500 while on leave and then another $85,000 – or four months salary – after being terminated in April. Those wages, with the $100,000 for legal fees, cost the district a total of $227,500.

The three, with Reid’s ex-husband Tony Pope, were arrested Wednesday night after they were named in a 10-count indictment that includes charges of violating the racketeer and corrupt organizations act, theft by a government employee, bribery and falsifying a government document. The DeKalb grand jury charged the four with manipulating $80 million worth of school construction contracts, netting $2.4 million for themselves.

Meanwhile Friday, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, which accredits DeKalb and most school systems in the southeast, said it is looking into the indictments. SACS revoked Clayton County schools’ accreditation in 2008.

“We have made no decision yet, but significant questions need answers,” SACS’ president and CEO Mark A. Elgart told the AJC.

Elgart said it is rare to see a school employee remain on the job after being indicted, as Reid has.

Board chairman Tom Bowen said the district’s employment policies and employee contracts prohibited it from taking immediate action against Reid, and her attorney said Friday she expects to return to work on Tuesday.

Her last day will be June 30. School officials said they will not renew her contract at the end of the fiscal year.

If the board fired Reid now, her contract would require the school system to hold an employment hearing to determine the cause for her termination. That would require the board to call witnesses, which could jeopardize the criminal case, Bowen said.

“She’s been paid to do what the administration tells her to do and that’s what she does,” Reid’s attorney, Manny Arora, said. “If they want to be patient and give her the benefit of the doubt as the law and Constitution requires, they’ll see in this trial that she was doing her job.”

After reading the 125-page indictment, DeKalb parent Bill Armstrong said he was shocked that his tax dollars are still paying some of the suspects.

“I’m at a loss as how that’s possible,” said Armstrong, president of the Huntley Hills Elementary School Council. “My general problem is the board itself and why they let this go on this whole time.”

School officials said they don’t know where Reid will sit at work or what she'll do since conditions of her bond prohibit her from having any contact with witnesses, including many school administrators.

Reid and Pope were released from jail Friday afternoon, both on a $400,000 bond.

They initially each had a $1 million bond, but Superior Court Judge C.J. Becker reduced their bonds after complaints from attorneys that they could not afford it.

For Pope, the $400,000 was still a bit steep, but he managed to scrape it together late Friday, his lawyer Calvin Leipold said.

“His business has been decimated,” Leipold said of Pope’s architecture firm. “We spent all day getting everything together.”

Lewis and Moody were released Wednesday night, each on a $200,000 bond.

The school board has been reluctant to talk about the indictments, other than saying that they were unaware of the alleged criminal activity.

However, they have been aware of some of the allegations.

After complaints from a whistle blower, the district attorney interviewed Lewis about some questionable expenses on his school credit card. During this interview, Lewis told investigators he was concerned about Reid possibly giving preferential treatment to her husband and other contractors.

Despite his concerns, Lewis renewed Reid’s contract and gave her the $197,000 annual salary.

In October, the district attorney searched Reid’s offices and seized documents. That’s when the district decided to move her.

“She could not be the point of contact with the DA on construction records needed to investigate something she was alleged to be involved in. She had to be moved for her and the district’s protection,” Bowen told the AJC.

That should have been enough to terminate her, Armstrong said.

“The general nature of these allegations has been out for months and I don’t know why they didn’t act when Lewis complained,” Armstrong said. “The board didn’t stand firm to protect the district from someone who allegedly had some financial misfeasance and nepotism and conflict of interest.”

Armstrong said he is annoyed that they are getting paid while his children’s school is facing larger class sizes, cuts in paraprofessionals and furloughed teachers.

Bowen said the district actually saved money by keeping Reid on and by terminating Lewis in April. State law prohibits school systems from terminating superintendents under indictment. That means DeKalb would have had to pay Lewis’ salary while awaiting a trial.

“In this country, you’re innocent until proven guilty,” said Ernest Brown, a member of the school closing task force. “To make a rush to judgment could cost the district more if they fire them and violate employment law.”